might that be it? in reference to your statement below:
"However, it does seem that when one person gets a particular thought, then many others get that thought at about the same time. Sheldrake likes to talk about that. I forget what he calls it."

according to some reading of mathematical origin (the source of which i've long forgotten) coincidence is a much more common phenomenon than human experience would lead one to believe.
i've always thought it would be interesting to understand how this is so.

again long ago, at a seminar called Lifestream held by a remarkable gentleman, Jim Quinn i recall a story he told of monkeys in one part of the world that researchers were studying. the monkeys suddenly began washing their food in pools of water in their habitat. this was something the monkeys had not done before. the funny thing was though that when the research was published another research group that had been conducted on the other side of the world at about the same time found the same behavior.